Persuasion and A Civil Contract - April CC Book Club Selection

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Charles Musgrove should have looked more carefully before marrying his spoiled helpless hypochondriac, Mary. I’m sure he’s regretting his choice of bride, even though she was 2nd choice. Even the high spirited young neighbors, the high maintenance other sister, or Mrs Clay would have likely made better brides and life partners.

To be fair, Charles Musgrove was pretty into his own world as well—guns, sporting, and things that didn’t involve his wife or kids. They seemed to live separate worlds, him and Mary.

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I had trouble with the name Charles, particularly within the Musgrove family.

Charles Musgrove, Esq. of Uppercross is the father of Charles Musgrove, who is married to Mary. Charles and Mary named their eldest son Charles. (Of course they do.) Anyway, I had to stop and sort out which Charles (first, second, or third generation Charles) and/or which Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove the narrative mentioned at the moment.

And let’s note the brief mention of Charles Smith, Esq. He was married to Mrs. Smith before his death.

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I didn’t know there were two different endings. I looked it up and if you want to go for a deep dive, here is the discarded original version: Persuasion by Jane Austen - The "Cancelled Chapters"

And a detailed analysis: Persuasion: Why the Revised Ending Works So Well

Personally, I only skimmed the first version, partly because there’s a lot of overlap with the final one, but mostly because critics agree that Austen’s final ending as published is far superior to the version she discarded. Her revised ending is structurally and thematically more sound, and truer to the characters.

However, it’s interesting that both the 1995 and 2007 film adaptations include one of the cut scenes from the earlier manuscript. My guess is that it was done to add another scene in which Anne and Captain Wentworth interact, since there are so few, while still being faithful to the book – more or less.

I wonder if when that original version was discovered and published, Jane looked down from above and sighed, “Darn, I meant to throw that away, but accidentally left it in Cassandra’s desk.” Still, it’s very cool that it exists. Below is a photo, and you can read more about Austen’s writing process here – the three minute video by Kathryn Sutherland is worth watching: Jane Austen: Plan of a Novel — NOBLE OCEANS

Jane+Austen-+Chapter+11,+British+Library
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Switching back to A Civil Contract…When I was reading, I kept thinking about the marriage of convenience in Anthony Trollope’s The Pallisers series. Did anyone ever read those books or see the BBC mini-series?

Lady Glencora reluctantly marries the very good and very stable Plantagenet Palliser, but spends the early days of their marriage pining for the unsuitable rake Burgo Fitzgerald. Eventually, she recognizes the worth of her spouse. I remember being captivated by the mini-series, oh so many decades ago.

On the flip side, I also thought of Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice, a less romantic–and probably more realistic–view of a marriage of convenience. Charlotte knew what she was doing, but I imagine it was hard to get past the eternal “ick factor” of Mr. Collins.

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I just wanted to say how very much I enjoyed these books and the discussion. Even with all the family dysfunction, so prevalent in fiction, the books were charming and entertaining and generally positive. Villains were uncovered, misunderstandings were clarified, bleakness and despair eliminated, and love won the day. Early in Persuasion, I was picturing Heathcliff involved instead of Croft and had a laugh.

And I didn’t feel like I was missing the literary acumen to properly appreciate and analyze the books, whew. In other words, I didn’t feel dumb.

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I definitely prefer the published version over the original version. Thanks for uncovering the original. Very interesting!

I also enjoyed both books—they were light and happy, even with family dysfunction and misunderstandings.

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Just last week I frantically finished “ A Civil Contract” and thoroughly enjoyed it, Jenny was a heroine of sorts.
Like Marylin appreciate the happy ending, agree with Caraid, Jenny and Adam found lasting love.

Tried to read Persuasion, gave up quickly. hanging my head in shame, because there is so much love for this book, hope to revisit it.

I watched the 1995 BbC production, and found it so quiet, monotone, subdued, flat, but well acted, just didn’t relate to characters without having read the book. My bad

Enjoying this discussion and the love for Austen, Heyer and literary comparisons. Will read the links soon, just been busy.

Carry on…..great discussion

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That was very interesting to read the two endings and agree with the article on the reasons the revised version was better.

@Marilyn yes, both books are very relatable. I got confused by the Musgrove family from time to time, but not so much that I let it disturb me. Of course I was concurrently reading Pedro Páramo an early example of magical realism. Man is that book confusing!

I like the way people talk in the Heyer books. She did a lot of research and I believe it’s pretty authentic.

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Lydia was one of my favorite characters – lots of fun whenever she breezed into a scene. I think Brough is a good match, but it always makes me a bit sad that women of that era had to be married off so young. I bet Lydia would have excelled in the theatre–her original career choice as she was a “Born Actress”!–but alas, 'twould have been scandalous.

Mr. Chawleigh bellowed a bit too much for my tastes, but his heart was in the right place. He was certainly larger-than-life: Georgette Heyer wrote to a friend that Mr. Chawleigh continually “tried to steal the whole book, & had to be firmly pushed off the stage.” A Civil Contract, by Georgette Heyer – A Review – Austenprose

I expected–hoped–that at some point Jenny would firmly stand up to him, but she never really did. Jenny was consistently deferential to both Adam and her father. There were times when I wanted her to give them both a good clip across the chops.

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And on the subject of what women of the early 1800’s could and couldn’t do, I loved seeing Anne on the deck of the ship at the end of the 1995 “Persuasion.” It felt like she was in her element there – no longer housebound! It wasn’t explicitly stated at the end of the book, but I think it can be safely assumed that Anne, who “gloried in being a sailor’s wife,” traveled with Captain Wentworth, the same way Mrs. Croft did with the Admiral.

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This was a big reason why I couldn’t find much liking for Jenny. She let her father and later her husband overshadow her natural inclinations. They leach her personality and she meekly lets it happen. She, unlike Adam, had come into the marriage freely and not under any compulsion and seems to carry all the guilt for his forced choice.

Some of the badinage between Adam and Jenny showed that she was coming into her own, albeit slowly. There is a delicious irony in Jenny laughing at how Charlotte has been parroting her husband with her ‘Lambert says’ when she herself has few opinions that don’t come from Adam.

“Jenny rarely talked about the war at all, but when she did mention it she showed, he thought, a great deal of good sense.

It did not occur to him that Jenny, like Charlotte, was her husband’s echo.”

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Yes, I did find Lydia delightful and it seemed she and Brough were a nice match. I guess they had to marry young because their life expectancies generally were fairly short and otherwise how could they “breed”?

I think it would take Jenny a while to ever come out if her dad’s & Adam’s shadow, if she ever did. Sone folks are content to live in shadows or for whatever reasons don’t ever fully emerge from them. My younger sister is such a person—lovable to prefers to defer to her H. It works for her and them, so I dint interfere.

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I don’t think Jenny lost her natural inclinations or personality. But upper class women in the Regency era had no legal status or financial power, or even rights to their children. Without the approval and acquiescence of their husbands, they had little control over their lives. Jenny had to balance her father’s objectives with those of Adam, and consider how to keep each from aggravating the other, even if unknowingly.

Jenny was used to working under her father’s radar but in marrying Adam, she had to be even more careful since she was learning a whole new strata of society. It was a different mindset. She willingly went into the marriage knowing she was unwanted, but had fallen in love with a man who barely knew she existed. As the marriage progressed, she began to understand him and encourage him to appreciate his new role. They really both had to adapt and yet there probably would be pitfalls to avoid throughout their marriage.

she had been granted more than she had hoped for when she had married him…she thought they would have many years of quiet content: never reaching the heights, but living together in comfort and depending friendship.

I think Anne, traveling the seas with the man she loves, unencumbered by family or societal expectations, was likely to have a much more enjoyable life. Her main issues were not her relationship but

Anne… had no other alloy to the happiness of her prospects than what arose from the consciousness of having no relations to bestow upon him which a man of sense could value.

(I doubt that bothered him.)

And

Anne…had the full worth of it in Captain Wentworth’s affection. ..the dread of a future war all that could dim her sunshine.

So neither problem was anything that affected her daily life and happiness.

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I loved this scene in the movie! Anne looked really happy!

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What a great discussion – I’ve been enjoying all your comments.

I enjoyed the books, too. Astonished myself by realizing I had not read Persuasion before. Could have sworn I did. Or so long ago it completely departed my aging brain.

In A Civil Contract, I was on Team Jenny from the start. And I loved Mr. Chawleigh! While staying true to his own lovable/exasperating bellowing self, he proved capable of growth and change.

Without this group, I would never have read a Georgette Heyer book, so, thank you! It was nowhere near as fluffy as I feared. (I think the name Georgette just conjured up a silly woman in my mind. But like the Mary Tyler Moore character, there’s more to her than meets the eye.)

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Georgette Heyer really researched the time period and tried to stay as true as possible with lots of little details. I really enjoy her books and they are among the few I’m happy to re-read.

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Interesting discussion of Georgette Heyer as an author of the Regency period.

From the absolutely appalling cover art that has defaced her books since she was first published, you would think Georgette Heyer the most gooey, ghastly, cutesy, sentimental and trashy author who ever dared put pen to paper. The surprise in store for you, if you have not encountered her before, is that once you tear off, burn or ignore those disgusting covers you will discover her to be one of the wittiest, most insightful and rewarding prose writers imaginable. Her stories satisfy all the requirements of romantic fiction, but the language she uses, the dialogue, the ironic awareness, the satire and insight – these rise far above the genre.

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Given their variety and quality, I’m amazed that more Georgette Heyer books haven’t been turned into movies.

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Love this analysis – makes me want to pick up Persuasion and read the penultimate chapter all over again: “I am half agony, half hope”: Jane Austen’s most romantic love scene | Vox

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Why I enjoyed A civil Contract, and view Jenny as an emboldened character.

Jenny agreed to the arranged marriage,but I thought she admitted later in the book, she wouldn’t have agreed is she hadn’t been attracted to Adam.

At a pivotal moment in the story, when Julia faints when seeing Adam, Jenny takes action, dictating to others what to do, and she supplies thr cover story, “ Julia faints when overheated” - a connection of respect for Jenny is made with Rockhill at that moment.

After a sleepless night, she embarks on a bold mission, a solution to this scandalous situation. Jenny enlists ( Julia’s mother and or father ) in facing it head on, julia will be embraced in their society.

Does Jenny face a formidable force in her father, yes of course, didn’t everyone ? He decorates their house, but Jenny tactfully redecorates the most objectionable designs,

Yes, Jenny succumbs to her father’s selection of a dr, after trying to keep him in the dark. It is Adam who intervenes in the pivotal argument on Jenny’s behalf, helping her get the dr of her choosing.
And,yes, the powerful, outspoken aunt played a role in that saga, quite a force she was. Heyer’s female characters were sometimes quite powerful, and In Lydia refreshingly forthright.

Finally, Jenny an educated, woman, took an interest in the farming techniques, even commenting on her first visit about the drainage and the flooding issues. Didn’t Jenny even visit the families, while not as natural as Lydia and Adam, she got involved.

I, also, appreciated, the role of Jenny’s Father, meddlesome, opinionated, but out of love for those around him. He wanted a title not for his own self interest, he stepped back, but to fulfill his wife’s wishes, and for his daughter’s future,

Jenny’s sensible idea of providing a comfortable home for her husband, was achieved. Adam eventually recognized, her talents, respected her character, and I believe a lifelong loving bond formed.

So for me, Jenny had “agency”, not a victim, but very much an emboldened woman of her time.

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